"Alright, the system quest is complete. Now it's time to process the catch," Alex Knight thought, ready to handle the fish he had caught.
Since the fish's blood had solidified into a bloodstone, it was easy to manage. Alex stepped on the fish's tail, carefully cutting off the spiny dorsal fin. Using the back of his knife, he scraped off the scales, gutted the fish, and tossed the discarded gills and internal organs into a corner of the cave. He then carried the fish to the pond to wash it.
After cleaning the fish's abdominal cavity and shaking off the water, Alex took out a bottle of deteriorated recovery medicine from his backpack. He pulled out the stopper and poured the dark green liquid onto the ground nearby, feeling no regret since he still had five bottles left.
Rinsing the empty glass bottle clean in the water, Alex filled it with pond water and returned to the grill.
The half-meter-tall stone grill featured a fire pit at the base for burning and a smaller space above it, serving as an oven chamber. Here, food could be roasted or heated, separated from the burning fire pit below by a thin stone slab.
Alex carved a slightly larger wooden board into the shape of a paddle with his knife, just the right size to fit into the oven chamber, with a section of the wooden handle left outside.
It was time to start cooking. He didn't know the time of day, nor did he have the concept of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All he knew was that he had been busy for two hours and was now hungry.
The one-pound pink alien fish, according to Truth Eye, was suitable for braising. However, being in another world and trapped in this cave, Alex had no oil, salt, or soy sauce for seasoning, no green onions, ginger, or garlic to remove the fishy smell, and no pots, bowls, or ladles. Braising was out of the question; simply cooking it would suffice.
He scored the thickest parts of the fish with a knife, laid it open, back down, on the wooden board, placed the glass bottle filled with water beside it, and pushed the board into the oven chamber to roast.
Though not skilled at cooking with such ancient tools, Alex estimated that when the water in the glass bottle boiled, the fish meat would likely be ready to eat. As long as it was edible, even if half-cooked, it was better than eating it raw.
Whether the glass bottle would shatter due to uneven heating was a concern, but Alex trusted the material quality of Hunter World hunter items. As containers for various concocted medicines, they were designed to withstand intense battles and diverse environments, from lava to ice and snow.
While waiting for the fish to roast, Alex took out the quest reward from his backpack: a fist-sized, polygonal, colorless crystal.
**[Skill Crystal] Extraordinary Item**
- **Quality:** Rare
- **Description:** A crystal block containing a bit of rule power. After use, you can obtain the Throwing skill.
- **PS:** For players only, just crush it.
Crack~
After reading the information, Alex crushed the crystal in his hand. A speck of light appeared and merged into his body.
**[Throwing skill loaded]**
---
**Profession:** Hunter
**Level:** 1
**Experience:** [10 / 100]
**Professional Talent**
- **Killing (Unique)**
**Professional Skills**
- **[Throwing (Beginner)]**
- **Proficiency (0 / 300)**
- **Effect:** Throws objects, hits 100% within 10 meters
**Current Quest:** None
The skill effect was simple and clear. Although the distance was only 10 meters, in this dog-eat-dog natural world, these 10 meters were like sharp teeth and claws extending from his body—a vital self-defense weapon!
Not to mention the 100% hit rate skill effect seemed linked to causality **[Guaranteed Hit]**.
Good skill. System products are always top-notch, and Alex was thrilled.
In the early stages, he could use it to smash small monsters like Orbiting Rabbit and Taoyuan Bird. Later, once his strength attribute increased, this skill would be like a precision-guided rocket!
A sizzling sound came from the oven chamber. The oil in the fish skin, heated by the high temperature, seeped out, frying the fish meat. A wisp of roasted fish aroma drifted from the oven—a special scent released when fat and protein are heated.
Alex's stomach growled at the enticing aroma.
He leaned forward, peeking into the oven chamber. The water in the glass bottle was bubbling under the high heat.
"It should be ready to eat soon."
Thinking about eating, Alex realized he didn't have any utensils, so he carved a rough but usable wooden spoon.
By the time the wooden spoon was ready, the water had boiled, and the fish was cooked. Bubbles rolled in the glass bottle, and steam rushed from the mouth.
Alex pulled out the wooden board, using the stone stool beside him as a dining table, and placed the food and water on it.
The roasted fish curled at the edges, the meat golden brown and sizzling.
**[Original Roasted Fish] Food**
- **Quality:** Crude
- **Description:** Can fill your stomach and maintain basic nutritional balance.
- **PS:** Horrible!
Well then!
An ordinary quality fish, after his cooking, had actually dropped a level. Just by looking at the text description, Alex had no hope for the taste of the fish meat.
However, even if it didn't taste good, he had to eat it. There was no choice in this place.
Alex held two thin pieces of wood as chopsticks in his right hand and a knife in his left. He cut a piece of fish meat, picked it up with the chopsticks, blew on it to cool, and put it into his mouth.
He grimaced, chewed with a pained expression. The texture and taste were like rubber with a fishy smell; it was tasteless and hard to chew, genuinely awful.
But he had no choice; if he didn't eat, he'd starve, and if he starved, he'd die. In the face of death, this hardship was nothing.
Fortunately, the fish had no small bones. After swallowing the fish meat, Alex cut another piece, putting it into his mouth. Piece by piece, he ate all one pound of fish meat, leaving only the head and some shredded meat on the wooden board.
After finishing the fish, the water in the glass bottle had cooled. Holding the bottle with both hands, he took a sip, the warm water flowing down his throat into his stomach. A few sips later, he felt warm all over.
**[Boiled Water] Drink**
- **Quality:** Ordinary
- **Description:** Drink while hot to restore core body temperature.
- **PS:** Drink more hot water.
After eating and drinking his fill, Alex sat on the stone stool, pondering his next move.
Food and water were sufficient for now, but firewood would last only two days, and he had no warm clothes.
He could dismantle the camp tent and sleeping bag, sewing animal skins into warm clothing, and dig through the ice and snow for wood. But then sleeping would become an issue—the cave floor was uneven, uncomfortable even with clothes on.
Moreover, he wasn't versed in sewing, having never watched related videos or learned the skill.
But things hadn't reached that point yet.
While stuck in the cave, his other self in another world had been trekking freely in the wilderness for nearly two hours.
Alex shook his arm, and a phone appeared in his hand, identical in appearance, model, and internal data to the one used to start the fire earlier.
"Ah, brother, it's good to see you again."
---
Do identical selves exist in a multiverse?
When the membrane between worlds is pierced by the system's mighty power, what wonderful reactions ensue?
Alex's consciousness transcended endless dimensions, connecting to his other self in another world.
---
The sky was faintly lit, darkness gradually receding as light spread from one end of the horizon, enveloping Alex, who had been trekking in the wilderness for two hours.
Wearing the same autumn clothes, possessing the same physique and delicate face, Alex walking in the yellow wilderness was no different from Alex in the Monster Hunter World.
This was an accident; for some unknown reason, after Alex transmigrated, he found himself with two bodies: one woke in a cold cave, the other opened his eyes in an uninhabited wilderness.
Though two bodies, they shared the same memories and thoughts, with one consciousness, akin to the mythological concept of an external incarnation; both were Alex.
Under the system's mighty power, Alex in the wilderness could retrieve the One-Handed Sword placed in his dimensional backpack in the Monster Hunter World through the same personal attribute panel.
Now he was a man with two lives. If faced with an unsolvable problem, he could go nuts without a care.
However, he still had to be cautious; dying once meant losing one world. That loss would be immense.
Bypassing clustered Joshua trees, Alex continued toward his goal, an abandoned factory-like building.
After walking so long, signs of human construction finally appeared in sight.
As for why he didn't cut the Joshua trees and put them in his backpack for Alex in the Hunter World to burn?
Because of the information given by Truth Eye.
**[Joshua Tree]**
- **Description:** The original plant was born in a laboratory. Through Biotechnica's gene editing, its roots can stabilize sand and resist sandstorms. It also adapts to polluted living environments after the war.
- **PS:** Due to absorbing chemical pollutants from the soil, the smoke from burning is extremely harmful to the human body. Never try to use it for burning!
He dared not use it for burning. He didn't want to send his other self away so soon.
Everything growing from the ground in this wilderness seemed a bit toxic. Whether it was Joshua trees or unknown bushes, burning them was a dangerous move.